Wednesday, June 26, 2013

MERS: Greffex Does It Again

Press Release
MERS-CoV: In one month Greffex builds an advanced vaccine against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus

AURORA, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2013--

A scant two months after creating the first comprehensive vaccine for
H7N9 avian influenza, Greffex developed a vaccine to protect against the
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV.) The vaccine
was readied in just four weeks after MERS-CoV had moved to the WHO's
"alert phase" that also includes the human bird flu viruses H5N1 and
H7N9. "We have big competitors who claim they can initiate vaccine
production faster than we can," says Dr. Uwe D. Staerz, Chief Scientific
Officer at Greffex. "That they can go from algorithm to gene synthesis
in matter of days invoking synthetic biology. But after they've
constructed the necessary genes, they still need several months to
deliver an actual vaccine. Once we get the genetic information for a new
virus, we can give you a testable vaccine in a month. Our platform is
therefore ideally suited to combat fast emerging infections."